Gay Bashing on the Rise?

Updated on October 18, 2010

Gay
bashing isn’t just mean or hateful. It can be deadly. The saddest part is, many
people in society still do not know what gay bashing means or constitutes. Gay
bashing is defined as an expression use to designate verbal confrontation with
denigration or physical violence against anyone who is thought to be gay,
bisexual, lesbian and even transgendered because of their obvious or apparent
sexual orientation or gender identity. (Roth 2010)

Week after week we as a society
are still hearing news stories about gay bashing which can not only be
physical, but emotional and psychological which at times can be worse than
physical harm. One year ago, Obama signed an federal anti-hate crime law into effect
that included specific language protecting the LGBT community. Sure there is
federal law in effect, but has it done more harm than good. Has it done any
good for that matter? Does the gay community feel safe?

October
2010, a freshman committed suicide at Rutgers University after being humiliated
by having his sexual encounter with anther man broadcast over the internet. Two
teenagers in California hanged themselves after being bullied at school for
being gay. Furthermore, nine men were recently arrested in New York for the
savage and amoral beating of three men because the men were homosexual. All
these current attacks tells the LGBT community that gay bashing is still a very
real reality that needs to be addressed much better than it currently is.

To make matters worse, NY
Republican Gubernational candidate firmly believes that gay bashing would be
non existent if men and women would do what they were supposed to be doing. He
believes if they would go out and get married and raise family and not ponder
whether or not homosexuality is a valid successful option, then gay bashing
wouldn’t be an issue. Amoral or inconsiderate politicians aren’t the only
possible reason for gay bashing, we also have our very own religious leaders
whom gay bashers seem to worship. Fred Phelps continues to preach hate against
the LGBT community. He is regarded as one of the worst but there are many more
out there whom society often finds out are closet homosexuals as well as
hypocrites.

The
gay community has come a very long way in regards to how society perceives
them. There have been Oscar winning films such as Milk and Brokeback Mountain
that portrayed homosexuality in a very positive light. These films have also
stirred up some very real emotions on both sides of the current gay rights
debate. In early cinema, gays were portrayed as victims, then they were
portrayed as victimizers. One good thing is that the entertainment industry has
stopped focusing on the labels because child molesters come in all shapes and
sizes as do serial killers.

Recently the Attorney General made headlines by suspending his
assistant attorney general who attracted media headlines for a controversial
blog where he ridiculed a college student for said students religious beliefs
and gay advocacy. Supposedly, the assistant condemned the student for their
anti Christian behavior and claimed they were “trying to recruit the publics
sons and daughters”. (Berman 2010)

On a positive note, the
attorney general felt he was more at fault for not directly reviewing his
assistants behavior and admitted to knowing that something wasn’t right with
his stance. This is a rarity especially when it comes to politicians admitting
fault. Michigan’s own governor has publicly said that she would’ve fired the
assistant. (Berman 2010)

Jennifer Granholm, the
current governor of Michigan enacted policies that bar discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation. The only downside is that these rules only apply
to the workplace, not what is said and done during after hours.

Its actions taken like this that society needs to see more and
more of. It lets people know that this level of hate and hate speech will not
be tolerated and is punishable by law. In early 2010, two
teenager girls kicked an elderly gay man until he died. They hurled homophobic
slurs at the sixty two year old man as he walked by them with his partner. The
girls were not alone, they were in the company of an eighteen year old African
American male as well, but the girls were the primary assailants. One blow to the head and the victim as
unconscious and after that, the girls repeatedly stomped on his chest.
Afterwards, he remained in a coma for three weeks and died. (Cohen 2010)

To make matters worse, its been argued that scene from
the film A Clockwork Orange was to blame in which a character is attacked in a
similar fashion. Its been said that alcohol intoxication was to blame. Some
people have come forward and revealed that the girls had been plotting and
targeting several people to attack. The mere fact that someone would blame
violence on a film that came out almost forty years ago is insulting. These
assailants are almost twenty years old and know right from wrong. Don’t blame
television for their actions and it didn’t appear that the jury was buying
that. (Cohen 2010)

The
don’t ask don’t tell policy within the military only makes things worse. This
policy has also been debated on whether or not it should be abolished in recent
political avenues. Ten years ago, Pfc. Barry L. Winchell was brutally murdered
in his bed while he slept by a fellow soldier who was wielding a baseball bat.
He struck him in such a savage manner that there were pieces of Winchell’s
brain and bone and blood on the bat and on his bedside wall. Winchell himself
never woke up and died the following day when his mother turned off the
machines keeping her sons heart pumping. Winchell was only twenty two years old
at the time of his death. His murderer was only nineteen years old. (Rowe 2009)

Winchell
has been viewed as one the original martyrs of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Several months before his murder Winchell who
indentified himself as a straight man had become involved with a transsexual
woman named Calpernia Addams who was a nightclub performer. When several
soldiers learned of this, Winchell began to be harassed and rumors were spread.
Winchell was afraid to say anything to his commanders because of the Don’t Ask
Don’t Tell policy so he endured the cruel torments. (Rowe 2009)

Winchell’s
victimization continued to escalate until his brutal murder. Afterwards, many
were shocked at the heinous crime and felt that if that policy hadn’t been in
effect, Winchell may still be alive. It also posts the question on if a man
falls in love with a woman who used to be man, does that make him a homosexual
and would that have given the army the legal right to terminate him? Currently,
seventy five percent of Americans support the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
but the Obama administration hasn’t done anything. The real cost of Don’t Ask, Don’t tell is
human life and Winchell was one of them. (Rowe 2009)

So
many men and women have been discharged from the military for being gay or
lesbian and so many haven’t enlisted or tried to enlist because they are gay or
lesbian and don’t want lie. Why is there a law that says if you want to serve
your country, you must be heterosexual? Of course the law doesn’t actually say
that, but it really does when one thinks about it. On a lighter note, the Don’t
Ask Don’t Tell policy made headline news when a federal judge ordered the
military to suspend and discontinue any investigation or discharge or other
proceeds underway due to the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. The department of
Justice responded with an appeal and a request for a stay of the ruling. Its
been heavily argued that the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy has led society to
view the military as anti-gay and condoning discriminatory acts against known
or alleged homosexual servicemen. Basically, its been a legal way to torture
someone.

Only
a day after the policy made national headlines did the Air Force become the
first military branch to stop enforcing the don’t ask don’t tell policy.
Furthermore, they also urged closeted servicemen and women to withhold
announcing themselves at the moment which is largely due to the negative
backlash that came with the notion. Currently, many groups want the motion
reversed and are in the process of doing whatever they can to make it happen.
(Huffington Post 2010)

Gay
bashing isn’t about beating up someone who is gay or suspected of being gay.
Many people still think that gay bashing is just horsing around or male play in
the yard. Its much more than that. So many lives have been lost from Matthew
Shepard and Brendon Teena to the shooting of Larry King and many more. Often
times, those who survive or aren’t injured much don’t report it for fear of
retaliation. Its sad that the justice system that is supposed to protect
members of society, often times, fails at the same time.

Psychological
torture is sometimes worse than physical torture because wounds heal, but emotional
damage and scarring can last a lifetime and serious effect someone’s ability to
move on and establish successful relationships in life. Many times, parents and
other members of society tell teens to man up, ignore the teasing or don’t take
insults so personally. These types of responses may or may not be work but they
effect teens greatly. Being psychologically bashed is just as bad, it falls
into the category of emotional torture and abuse. If society doesn’t do
something to stop this harassment and cruelty, America’s teen suicide rates
could increase dramatically. Five recent gay related suicides in the past week
is enough to get society concerned, or at least it should be. If this is the
message that society wants young people who have yet to come out or are
questioning their sexuality, what will they think?

As a society, what can be done to
stop or at least began the process of diminishing gay bashing and gay hate
altogether? One of the saddest things is that so many people believe that
homosexuality is a choice while also a majority believe that it is biological.
Who in their right mind would choose a life that is full of hardship and could
end up killing them? Lesbians, gays, bisexuals and even transgendered
individuals endure so much hate and pain because there attractions differ from
what is considered the social norm. Although many in society do not condone
homosexuality, no one on this earth deserves to be treated in such hateful
ways. Society is surrounded by things that they see happening and disapprove
of, but its really none of their business and the fact that they try to make it
their business is downright sad. (Hari 2007)

The interesting thing is that many
in society don’t feel that gay bashers should be prosecuted unless it results
in someone’s death. That’s odd considering that in the United States, making
idle threats to anyone can get someone put in prison. It’s been argued that
hate crime legislation could never really be a solution to end gay bashing.
Going the political right, the right wing would argue that the law wants to
punish those for their religious beliefs while the left wing would argue that
the right wing condones hate. It could also be said that asking to be protected
against things that offend homosexuals could spawn groups that want to be
protected from gay pride marches that they feel promote sexuality. For decades,
homosexuals have been asking to have the same rights as heterosexuals. They
want to get married, have children or adopt them and enjoy the benefits of
family and marriage. Is there really something so wrong with that? (Hari 2007)

One of the best ways that society
can help to stop or begin the process of healing when it comes to gay bashing is
through education. If we stop to think
about where gay bashing comes from, it can be viewed as a learned behavior.
This statement can also be refuted because it can be argued that all violent
behavior is learned and that someone is to blame. Many times, the only person
to blame for violent behavior, is that person committing the crime.

Overcrowding
within our educational systems seem to be on the rise and many children are not
getting the attention needed. So many times, and this begins in as early as grade
school where children are verbally attacking and emotionally torturing other
classmates for being different. The kids viewed as been nerdy and not into
sports are called names such as sissy. This starts and stays within the victims
for years to come. In the past, this behavior was usually associated with boys,
but in recent years, girls have been viewed as been equally, or perhaps even
more vicious. This was cleverly portrayed in the 2004 film Mean Girls which
critics and society hailed as extremely right on as to the portrayal of high
school girls.

Its easy to say that this behavior
starts at home or starts with the parents when it actuality, that’s far from it
considering the fact that between the ages of six and eighteen, children spend
the majority of their time at school around teachers and their own peers. True,
many times something probably is going on at home and the bullies take it out
on someone they perceive as weak. Also,
they hear things from their parents such as the words “fag” and “gay”, though
not directed at them, they begin using the words commonly. Education is the key
when it comes to putting end to this. Everyone experiences bullies while in
school and if people don’t believe this, look at all the gun violence that has
occurred in schools because someone was so afraid to come to school, they
thought they needed a weapon, or someone wanted revenge because a student
wasn’t punished for something. (Worsham 2010)

Teachers and the school faculties
really need to step up when they witness students tormenting other students.
The problem with this is the same when it comes to the parents of a victimized
student confronting the abusers parents. It turns into a he said she said sort
of deal and furthermore, many parents often are in denial about their child’s
behavior because they honestly don’t believe their “Suzy” would do such a
horrible thing. Parents forget that their children’s persona and behavior
change completely when they are around their peers because school is all about
being popular and being admired and being the best.

When incidents like this occur in
school, the faculty needs to take steps to punish said student and all those
involved. So many children are scared to tell because they know that those same
children will taunt them sooner or later and do something much worse in
retaliation for telling. These students need to be punished or even given
warnings and perhaps sessions with school counselors, and if that doesn’t work,
get the law involved and expel those students. If they aren’t punished, then in
their minds, they will not believe they have truly done anything wrong except
for horseplay or goofing around.

In 2009, over seven thousand middle school and
high school students were surveyed and it was discovered that about nine out of
ten students who identified themselves as lesbian, bisexual, gay or
transgendered experienced harassment on a daily basis. This is outrageous and
probably proves that not much is being done to make these kids feel safe.
(Worsham 2010)

If the school doesn’t try its best
to stop the abuse and educate its students, the victims end up becoming
isolated because they are too busy trying to shield themselves. Schools need to
start having programs or presentations on the effects of bullying and the
serious possible ramifications of not just gay bashing, but all crimes
especially those related to hate. Sure students get some of their thought
processes from their own parents, but as that child grows and matures, they
eventually learn to think on their own. If the school can get involved early
enough, they can promote tolerance and perhaps even acceptability.

In society, each and every
individual will always have his or her own personal beliefs. In society, we
will never see eye to eye on everything and what we need to realize is that
society doesn’t need to see eye to eye. Society doesn’t have to agree on
everything. What we need to agree on is that its not okay to hurt someone for
not sharing the same views. Gay bashing
may or may not be on the rise, but it is a constant issue and everyday that
society learns about another youth who has taken their own life in response to
abuse, or has had their life taken by the ramifications of hate, that is
another day that society has to live with the thought of knowing what kind of
people are being raised in this world. Too many lives have been lost and most
likely more will continue and the fact that society can’t see it, or won’t
admit it is just as bad.

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